Strip clubs decry late-night alcohol ban

Thursday

Jun 9, 2011 at 7:28 PM

RIDGELAND — After much debate Monday from business owners, the Jasper County Council unanimously approved a proposed ordinance requiring all establishments serving alcoholic beverages, described as “beer, ale, porter and/or wine” between the hours of 2 and 6 a.m., to cease selling alcohol during those hours.

No alcohol can be consumed on premises during those hours.

The proposal was what the majority of the people at the meeting had come to argue against.

Seven people argued against the proposal. All of them were owners or managers of the establishments the proposal is aimed toward and said that tax revenue and revenues to local businesses would be lost.

Bo Corbray, the manager of the Gold Club in Hardeeville, said “this ordinance would effectively close our business.”

“We pay $5,000 per month in taxes. Most of our business comes in after the bars in Savannah close. We weren’t given a reason for this ordinance, and we’re guessing it’s about drunk driving. If you close the bars here at 2 a.m., people will still drink and drive, but at 2 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. All of our people are TIPS (Training for Intervention Procedures) certified, and we try to serve responsibly. This ordinance would put 75 people out of work.”

Micki Skodras, owner of Temptations in Hardeeville, said the measure would hurt her business.

“Tax revenues for the county have increased with my business,” she said. “I may be forced to halt construction plans on a restaurant and bar within Jasper County because of this measure. All of my current staff members may lose out because of this. The 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. business is also good for other businesses, such as gas stations and hotels in Hardeeville.”

Other speakers against the measure included a representative of 3Garcias in Hardeeville, Henry Roldan, who said this would close their business, despite a lack of police calls to their business and despite the amount of revenue that they generate for the county.

“The last major incident that we had at our club was a fight with arrests seven years ago,” Roldan said. “Since then, we’ve had no major issues because we have hired security and have Hardeeville police patrolling the area to keep fights and accidents at a minimum.”

Chief Doug Graham of the Levy Fire Department stood to speak for the measure, thanking the Council for proposing the ban and for supporting the fire department. He said there were a minimum of “two to three accidents within our call area every week. This should help cut down on that.”

According to councilman Henry Etheridge, the ban was prompted by several factors, although he cited vehicle accidents as the main reason for it. Having the bars open until 6 a.m. “causes a number of other problems also. They close the clubs in Savannah at 2 and send everybody over here,” he said. “There was a lady killed over there two years ago, and the lawsuit was just settled. Her daughter called me, and said ‘Look, it’s about time we did something about this.’ Within a day or two of her call, I got a call from Chief Graham at the Levy Fire Department, saying ‘We’re having a wreck every other night on this road.’”

There was very little support for the business owners from the Council. Councilman Samuel Gregory supported notifying affected businesses after the second reading and said on Monday night that while he does not support drinking or “going to clubs,” more notice should have been given so that information was more widely available to the affected business owners.

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